Sunday, October 28, 2007

What is the vegan cowgirl eating right now?

Well, my computer keys are a bit slick with the olive oil that just happens to be offering a nice sheen to my finger tips - olives in citron. And of course what would a beautiful fall Sunday morning (when I am actually finding myself busy with work) be without some yummy Caviar d' Aubergines - just some pureed Eggplant with some lemon juice. I have been scooping and scrapping with Bosto's Rice Toasts....Yum.

But today's little gastro-break is nothing compared to the meal we had last night. We started at ROXI, which was almost a bad idea because the second I had the first glass of red I was ready to head back home. But, luckily there was some convincing done and a walk through the streets of ex-pat wonderland brought us to Chee de Waterloo where we found the open doors of L'Element Terre. It advertises itself as: Cuisine Vegetarienne, but they need to amend this to say: Fishetarian. There is loads of scampi and co. on the menu. Despite the fish frying in the back room, there was a bountiful (especially for Brussels) choice for vegans.

One can start with an Entrees (for Canadians this is the appetizer...not the main), a fresh juice or a nice glass of herbal tea - your choice. We shared some little sausage patties (made with lentils and cilantro) that were laying on a little bed of diced tomatoes.

We ordered two separate main dishes - K had the house special for the evening which was a rather large Seitan Steak covered in a heavy mushroom sauce. The presentation of this plate was quite antithetical to the rest of the atmosphere - which was all very 'we went to Africa and a couple of rain forests and brought back this aesthetic and a couple of photos'. The steak was laid out on a HUGE clear glass plate and was accompanied by a large pyramid of basmati. The rice was sitting beside some diced cabbage and a roasted Belgian Endive. The presentation seemed a little bit like a weird three way marriage between French-Japanese-Belgian plating. Funny. K was more enamoured with the sauce and shrooms than he was with his first introduction to the wide world of Seitan.

I ordered a wonderful Maroccan dish called: Tarjine de Rabat. It was loaded with courgettes, aubergines, onions, tomatoes and some amazing herbs.....It was served in a clay pot on a heaping pile of great couscous, which had been cooked with raisins (Angelique LOVES raisins). Two really different from La Luna, but equally as good (ok, maybe even a little better) falafel balls sat atop this totally satisfying dish.

The night for K was capped off with a slice of homemade tart (pear, peach and apricot), which he claimed was quite tasty.

On the walk home we were tempted by some Chilean wine, which went perfectly with the Felice Brothers and Blanche (who we are heading to see tonight)

Waking up this morning was an amazing experience. Despite my cold, despite the clouds - everything was right with the world. Maybe it was the wacky frogs in the bathroom last night. Maybe it was the wine? Whatever it was.....it's working. Horray for mornings.